In Memoriam
by raydelmundo1
Summary: Catching up with old friends isn't always a time for celebrations.


**Title:** In Memoriam

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters that honor goes to JK Rowling.

 **Summary:** Catching up with old friends isn't always a time for celebrations.

 **Author's Note:** I am a terrible person I can't seem to finish my other ongoing stories. I will try to update at least two of them (to boldly go and to understand a king) before the end of the week, but no promises. In the mean time this plot bunny popped into my head and I couldn't shake it. Hope you all enjoy it.

 **Chapter 1**

A peaceful silence had settled on the small village of Godric's Hallow. Only a few hours ago the streets had been buzzing with an equal share of delighted laughter and surprised shrieks. Children had been scurrying from house to house, knocking eagerly on doors asking for treats and screaming in delight if they received tricks as well.

Now however the sleepy streets were silent and the only lights came from the few street lamps in the main square and the decorative lights and jack-o-lanterns that some residents had left on. Not a soul stirred outside. So it was that no one was around when a sudden CRACK broke the night's silence. However it did not seem to disturb the sleepy village.

At the very edge of the village a very large black dog quietly emerged from the surrounding vegetation. If there had been anyone up to see this, they would not have found it out of the ordinary. After All every town had its occasional strays. Although that was were the normalcy of the dog stopped. At the very outskirts of the village from where the dog had emerged, there sat an overgrown and empty lot that had been like that for as long as the muggles who lived there could remember.

However for those wizards who lived peacefully and secretly alongside their muggle neighbors, the abandoned lot told a different story. For when one of the magical world were to look upon it, they were met by a completely altered sight.

The enchantment placed to ward off muggles would fall away and the revealed scene of destruction sat sadly in front of them. In the last lot stood the ruined remains of what was once a rather pretty cottage house. Now it was only the crumbling shell that remained, its burnt and rotting foundation slowly sinking into decay.

Yet these remains were no ordinary derelict building, rather here is where history had been made a little over 15 years ago. Here Lily and James Potter had been ruthlessly murdered by Lord Voldemort. This is where the same Lord Voldemort had met his downfall at the hands of the Potters' infant son, little Harry. Everyone in the wizarding world knew the significance of this hallowed ground.

The old fence that surrounded the sad ruins was overflowing with messages, letters, flowers and an assortment of trinkets left by those who had visited to pay their respects.

And so it seemed that the black dog was doing just that. Once he had reached the rickety little gate he sat down and gazed solemnly at the ruins within. After a few minutes he rose and with a quiet whimper moved away from the house, his tail now hanging morosely between his legs.

He padded his way quietly through the town and finally reached his apparent destination. With a great bound the gigantic black dog leapt neatly over the kissing gate that led into the villages little cemetery.

Once inside the dog's great strides brought it swiftly to a large white marble tombstone. The names engraved on the alabaster stone were none other than Lily and James Potter. The great black dog was replaced by Sirius Black who now knelt forlornly before the marble stone. He had finally shed his animagus form.

He was no longer as gaunt and emaciated as he had been when he had first escaped from Azkaban more than two years ago. His hair no longer hung lanky and dirty below his elbows and he had long ago rid himself of the torn and threadbare robes he had had to wear for nearly 13 years.

Now he looked more like the best man whom had stood beside his best friend at his wedding, laughing and happy. However time could not erase the haunted look that still lingered in his eyes. Nor the marks of pain and suffering that had been permanently etched onto the once strikingly handsome visage.

Slowly, almost reluctantly he reached forward to trace the names engraved on the cold stone. His hand began to tremble and quite suddenly all the emotions he had been holding at bay for so long come rushing forth.

Kneeling there, face hidden in one hand the other braced against the tomb for support, Sirius Black finally allowed himself a moment to grieve. That's not to say he hadn't mourned the death of his friends in all those years. In fact he had screamed, raged and even sought revenge for their murders but now it was a different kind of grief. It was slow and sad, mixed with bitter remorse and the heart-breaking reality of everything that he had lost, missed out on and failed to do.

There had been guilt the first time but hate and vengeance had readily overshadowed it. However now the guilt was almost unbearable. He knew he had failed James and Lily in so many ways, and now there was nothing to distract him from that sobering fact.

When it all became too much for him he quietly shifted back into his animagus form. With low whimpers and whines the great black dog curled up at the foot of the tombstone and lay there even as the rain began to fall lightly from the sky.


End file.
